Rob Butler, has today asked the Prime Minister about discretion for Buckinghamshire Council to use unclaimed funding to help local businesses that are currently unable to access financial support. Staff at Buckinghamshire Council have worked tirelessly to deliver support to eligible local businesses from the £91 million funding allocated, but some of this funding remains unclaimed. Rob, together with the other Bucks MPs, has been pushing for the Council to be allowed to use these remaining funds to help local small businesses.
The level of support from the government for businesses has been unprecedented, but as the county with the highest number of microbusinesses in the country, Buckinghamshire does have some small businesses that do not fit the eligibility criteria for the existing schemes. Rob believes that allowing Buckinghamshire Council to use the ‘headroom’ in the existing grant would be an excellent opportunity to help these businesses recover from the impact of coronavirus.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Rob said:
“Buckinghamshire Council has been able to help thousands of local businesses thanks to the £91 million grant from the Business Department. But despite the very best efforts of its staff, £13 million remains unclaimed. I and the council would like all of that money to be able to be given to small businesses that need it to survive, but at the minute that's not allowed.
“Will my Right Honourable Friend seek to persuade his Cabinet colleagues that this would be a win-win - more help for businesses in need, without costing the government a penny more than has already been allocated?”
The Prime Minister said:
“We are certainly talking to all councils, I'm grateful to him and he represents his businesses well in Aylesbury. We’re talking to all councils about how they can properly utilise the allocations that they have.”
